While my forthcoming novel is classified a cozy mystery, there is nothing cozy about the real-life tragedies on which the mystery part is inspired — the heat stroke deaths of high school athletes.

I am shocked and saddened that another high school football player died Sept. 1 after suffering heat stroke during practice at his Staten Island, N.Y., school. When 16-year-old Miles Kirkland collapsed at 11 a.m. on the Curtis High School field, the temperature already had reached 81 degrees and the humidity was 67 percent. The New York Times quoted the teen’s coach as saying that although it was hot and humid, “Miles was in the best shape of any of us.” Really? Does this coach not know that being in good shape has nothing to do with susceptibility to overheating? Why would he even make such an uninformed statement? Why is he still working at the school? Why isn’t he in jail? Heat stroke is the leading cause of death and disability among high school athletes in this country, the New York Times story states, citing numbers from a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In general, it says football players are affected by heat at a rate 10 times higher than athletes in other outdoor sports, such as soccer and baseball. According to the 2011 Annual Football Injury Research Report, since 1995, 51 football players had died in this country due to heat stroke. Of those, 40 were in high school, and five of those deaths occurred the year the report was issued. As the report points out, there is no excuse for any athlete to expire due to heat. So why do they? Korey Stringer was a 27-year-old offensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, when he died of heat stroke during practice on Aug. 1, 2001, in Mankato, Minn. It’s almost unthinkable that another heat-stroke death occurred the very same day, right here in Indiana near Michigantown, after Travis Stowers, a 17-year-old Clinton Central High School junior, collapsed during practice. The Korey Stringer Institute (KSI) opened in 2010 to honor Stringer’s legacy by providing information and resources that promote safety and to prevent sudden death in sports. With everything that is known about prevention today, it’s inexcusable that heat stroke continues to consume athletes. But according to KSI, heatstroke is an even bigger problem for high school players because so few high schools employ an athletic trainer. KSI has been assisting state athletic associations with the adoption of guidelines for high schools throughout the U.S. According to the institute, there have been ZERO heat-related deaths among high school athletes in states that have passed KSI heat-acclimatization guidelines. KSI’s website shows that New York, the state where Miles Kirkland died Sept. 1, had been working with KSI. However, as KSI points out, New York is “deficient” in its adoption of the guidelines. My home state of Indiana has not adopted KSI’s heat-acclimatization guidelines, but this summer, the Indiana High School Athletic Association did adopt new heat-related illness guidelines, according to a June 27, 2014, story by WTHR, the Indianapolis-based NBC-TV affiliate. In addition, this past July, the National Federation of State High School Associations produced a free online course entitled, “A Guide to heat Acclimatization and Heat Illness Prevention.” Both are steps in the right direction. However, it should be noted that, while Indiana recently became the first state to require concussion training for football coaches, Indiana still has no mandated guidelines or training for preventing heat-related illnesses. I feel fortunate that my son declined to try out for football when he entered junior high school. I’m thrilled that he opted instead to spend his hours reading and making music. If anyone has ever keeled over from heat exhaustion while reading a book or playing the piano, I’ve never heard of it. While I intended Dust Bunnies & Dead Bodies as a fun read, I want to be clear that the mystery at its core — the death of a high school athlete — is deadly serious. It is at once heartbreaking and obscene that the lives of healthy, young athletes are needlessly cut short. It troubles me that despite the ready availability of guidelines for prevention, heat stroke continues to claim our young athletes. Maybe it’s just me, but isn’t it appalling that Miles Kirkland’s high school went ahead with its season opener just five days after his death? Call it what you want — moving forward, honoring his memory, winning one for the Gipper — but I call the school’s decision thoughtless, disrespectful, and selfish. I wonder what Miles’ family called it. I invite you to keep the conversation flowing by leaving a note in the comments section below, sending me an email by clicking Contact, or visiting me on Facebook and Twitter. I also invite you to read the first chapter of Dust Bunnies & Dead Bodies by clicking Preview. Thanks so much for stopping by. — Janis

Way deep Janis! Heat stroke can come from any intense activity done outside in warm weather. Good resources! Thanks!

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Nancy Elsea

9/8/2014 11:45:12 am

Thank you, Janis. Well written and so true. I knew our young man and his family. Such a tragedy and so preventable.

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R A Szostek

9/9/2014 12:00:37 am

Thanks for the informative and well researched information on this subject. We have lost our collective "common sense" in so many areas of life....There just is no reason why we should be having deaths in this area....period.

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Mary Louise Marlow

9/9/2014 10:50:41 pm

Janis, this is so true. When I was an ignorant 13-year-old (weren't we all once?), my brother tried out for football. The coach ran them until my brother threw up. That was the end of his formal football experience, but the neighborhood guys played "touch" football and my brother got a mild concussion from one of those games. My mother said, "No more football!" (Smart lady.)

I can see why people love football, but it seems there is a military element to training. Can you hack it? Are you a real man, soldier?